


Almost a Rainbow

by SoulOfEmerald



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: For Science!, Gaster is a badster, Gaster is a dadster, Gen, Human Experimentation, Human Souls, Mental Breakdown, Mentions of Death, Minor Violence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, Pre-Accident W. D. Gaster, Pre-Game(s), Sans and Paps are babybones, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2017-05-06
Packaged: 2018-09-13 18:24:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9136105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoulOfEmerald/pseuds/SoulOfEmerald
Summary: Six humans tried to traverse the Underground without the aid of Determination.  They had other traits to fuel them, which were Courage, Justice, Kindness, Integrity, Patience, and Perseverance.  However, they never made it to the end.  Each one was captured and stored away for the time when the seventh soul was collected and the Barrier could be broken.As each one was collected, they each soon learned that the scientist that was entrusted to take care of them didn't have their comfort in mind.  As the souls fantasize about escape, Gaster preforms painful and risky experiments on them behind the scenes.  Plus, there's something, or someone, wanting them more than the monsters they were captured by.  The souls have suffered death already.  Will they have to go through it again in the name of freedom?





	1. Chapter 1

...And finally, I thought I could trust those rabbits when they said that I was safe with them.  Definitely a mistake.

After contemplating my life’s choices for the 264th time, I glanced at the doohickeys and the strange mechanical devices that had surrounded me for who knows how long, and made the room seem gray and lifeless.  That scientist never bothered to explain their purpose to me, and I never really cared.  Bored, I leaned against the curved surface of my containment device.  I knew that my real body was probably disposed of after my execution, but I somehow appeared as if I had one.  Perhaps it was because of that “powerful soul” that the scientist kept saying I had.

It didn’t look very powerful to me.  Whenever I bothered to look at it, it simply appeared as a bright yellow heart.  I resented that heart.  It was the reason I was in this mess.  It was the reason why I was trapped here, in a form where I couldn’t eat, drink, or even sleep.  Life carried on everywhere else, but for me, one day blended into the next until time had little to no meaning anymore.  It could’ve been months, years, or decades since I last saw my Ma.  I missed her.  Sometimes I’d remember her, and I’d cry for a little while.  I wasn’t worried about anyone seeing me.  Besides the occasional appearance of the scientist, I was alone.

Always.

Lately, the scientist had been fiddling around with the large mess of tubes and wires that my containment device was attached to, each of his hands completing a different task.  What felt like a few hours ago, he installed an extra device.  He had seen me watching him, questioning.

“You will see soon, Subject Yellow.”

That was what he had said.  I could only faintly remember my real name anymore.  For so long I’ve been referred to as Subject Yellow, and it made my real name seem worthless.  As far as I knew, he couldn’t hear me.  So even if I wanted to correct him, and he was willing to listen, my efforts would be wasted.  It seemed that he could only see my soul, to make matters worse.  I could convey basic emotions, but that was all.  This made my sorry excuse for a life here the equivalent of torture.  Nothing to do, nothing to see.  Everything was the same.

The hinges to the only door in the room creaked loudly as the scientist entered.  Two of his hands were preoccupied with who knows what.  Most likely holding something, judging by how they were placed behind his skeletal back.  He approached me, and stopped about a yard and a half away.

“Subject Yellow, it has come to my attention that you’ve been alone here for quite some time.  However, a recent turn of events has allowed that to change.” he said, in his usual focused tone.  “You have behaved yourself well, and I feel that it would be safe to provide you with an acquaintance.”

He held out the item he was holding behind his back, and revealed an orange heart surrounded by magic.  Another soul.  He opened the extra chamber and placed the soul inside.  Only after he sealed the top again did he let the magic holding the soul in place dissipate.

“Subject Orange, I hope you manage to conduct yourself much like how Subject Yellow has.” he says to the new soul.  With a look of annoyance, he adds on, “Or at least, better than you have over the past three days.”

With that, the scientist turned around and left the room, the door creaking behind him.  Surprised by the sudden change, I stood there for a minute, silent.  Snapping out of my slight daze, I turn to look at the newcomer.  They already began to form a replica of their body.  They were about the same hight as me, and seemed to have unnaturally big hands.  Noticing me, they smiled and waved.

“Hi new roomie!”  They energetically chimed.  Judging by the sound of their voice, they were most likely male.

“Howdy.” I greeted him with a tip of my cowboy hat.

“My name’s Buddy, what’s yours?”  He talked much faster than I was used to.  I could barely understand him.  After a few seconds of digging through my memory, I recalled the answer.

“...Jeremiah.”

“Not much of a talker, are ya?”

“I’m not very used to having somebody to talk to.”

“What about Gaster?  Is he too dull?”

“Who?”

“You know, the scientist skele guy?  The guy who was JUST in here?”

“Huh.  Never knew his name.”  That was true.  It felt strange to finally have a name to associate with his face.

“You have a weird accent.  It’s all Westerny.  And you talk so slow!”

“And you talk fast.  And alot.”

He suddenly gasped.  “Wait!  The accent!  The hat!  Are you a cowboy?!”  He seemed so excited by the thought.

I laughed.

“Well, you look like one!  In the movies, the cowboys are fearless lawbringers who always win against evil!  They’re awesome!”

I laughed harder.  “Fearless lawbringers?” Cowboys?  Even though I had no clue what a movie was, the thought of anything being big being dedicated to cowboys sounded so stupid, it took me at least a full five minutes to calm down.  By the time I could look Buddy in the eye again, he had almost fully recreated his body.  What I had mistaken for large hands turned out to be large gloves covering hands that would be normal for someone of a similar build.  A bandana was tied around the top of his head, and his hair was one of the most messy things I had ever seen.  His shirt had very little in the way of sleeves, so he was most likely poor.  He was looking away from me, clearly annoyed by me laughing at what was supposed to be a complement.

“Those movie things got it wrong.”  I explained.  “The only things a cowboy protects is a herd of cattle!  That’s why they’re called cowboys!  What they’re trying to depict are sheriffs, the most important guys around.”

That was as far as I got before Buddy jumped in with a question.  “Wait, you don’t know what a movie is, do you?”  He asked it like it was the most preposterous thing he ever heard.

“That’s right.” I answered.

“But how do you know that it wouldn’t make sense for there to be movies about cowboys if you don’t know what a movie is?”

I shrugged.  Before I knew it, Buddy had launched into a scattered and incomprehensible definition of a movie.  The strangeness of everything he said combined with his fast way of talking left me with no way to understand what he was talking about.  So, I just nodded when it seemed appropriate.

 

* * *

 

I think I did a good job of explaining what a movie was!  Jeremiah seemed to understand it at least.  He nodded a lot.  Take that, my 5th grade ELA teacher!

“Well, may I continue?”  Jeremiah asked.  His accent made him difficult to understand at times, but I’m a quick learner!

“Oh!  Sorry about that!  Go ahead!”  I responded.

“As I was sayin’,  What you meant to put in the movies were the sheriffs.  They defended the town with a loaded gun and a sense of pure justice.  Everyone respected em’, and they respected everyone else.”  He smiled as he gazed into the distance.  “I used to want to be the sheriff.  I practiced my shootin’ every day in hopes of defendin’ everyone.”  He dropped his smile and looked at the ground.   “As ya can see, that dream was crushed faster than a dry twig under a horse’s hoof.”

I didn’t know what to say.  What _could_ you say to that?  After a few seconds of silence, Jeremiah pointed out something.

“Ya seem to be awfully calm, despite the whole dyin’ thing.”

I shrugged.  “I knew it could happen when I challenged the King to a fight.”

His jaw dropped.  “Ya challenged the King?  Ya a fool or somethin’?”

“I was pretty good at fighting other humans and monsters, so when I saw the King on a walk in that snowy town place, I felt like I could win my freedom.  I approached him when there was nobody else around, and said that if I beat him, he would order the other monsters to let me go free.  If he won, then he could keep my soul.  But the King didn’t want to fight.  He probably thought I wasn’t worth the trouble.  So I said that I would fight the scientist first, to prove my strength.  Did I forget to tell you he was there?  Well he was.  So the King asked him ‘Gaster?  Are you willing to fight him?’ and Gaster said yes!”

“The ol’ guy doesn’t look like much of a fightin type.” Jeremiah commented.  “But what do I know?  I never had to fight ‘em.”

“He’s way stronger than he looks!  And did you know he can summon giant dog skulls?  And they fire lasers!  Laser dog skulls!  Plus, those extra hands were perfect for overwhelming opponents!  He’s a fighting champion!”  I couldn’t keep the excitement and admiration out of my voice.  Who _wouldn’t_ be impressed by such a skilled fighter?

“And he beat ya into the 30th of February?”

“Yup!  I kept my end of the bargain, and now I’m here!  Although, just between you and me, I don’t think he was trying to knock me out.  I think he was trying to actually kill me…”

“You’d be right.  They have no reason to show ya mercy.  They sure didn’t show me any of the sort.  They might’ve even thought that ya were gonna’ kill em’ too if you won.”

“Why would I do that?  I have no reason to kill!”

“Well, around these parts, folks think fightin’ with a human means there’s gonna’ be murder involved.  No exceptions.”

Silence again.  I didn’t like just standing here quietly.  Silence is boring, and that’s a fact.  So, I decided to ask another question.

“Where are you from?”

“Arizona.”

“Cool!  I’m from New York!”

“Makes sense.  Around there, ya’ll always speak fast.”

“We don’t speak fast!”

“Trust me, ya do.”

“Do not!”

“I ain’t startin’ a childish argument with ya.”

“Ha ha!  You gave up, so I win!”

“Ya didn’t win if nobody fought ya.”

We talked for what seemed like hours.  We learned quite a bit about each other, and we later told a few stories and jokes!  Jeremiah’s jokes made little sense to me, and he didn’t seem to understand much from my jokes or stories, but his stories were so good!  He told me one where a bunch of bandits broke into his home while he and his mom were there, and his mom and him scared them away with their shooting skills!  And neither of them were shot!  He seemed proud of his skill with a gun.  He even said that he fell into the Underground with a gun and some ammo, and the only reason why he was captured was because he was unwilling to shoot at anyone!

He really seemed to like my stories about the boxing tournaments I participated in.  He didn’t ask as many questions about them, and even commented on the techniques I described.  When I asked, he said that he knew a bit about it, but the definition of “a bit” varies from person to person.

And that was how we tended to kill time.  Talking about thoughts, telling stories, and asking questions.  It felt good to have a close friend like Jeremiah.  And judging by how often he pointed out how lonely things were before I arrived, it sounded like he really needed one.

 

* * *

 

 S︎︎U︎︎B︎︎J︎︎E︎︎C︎︎T︎︎ Y︎︎E︎︎L︎︎L︎︎O︎︎W︎︎ A︎︎N︎︎D︎︎ S︎︎U︎︎B︎︎J︎︎E︎︎C︎︎T︎︎ O︎︎R︎︎A︎︎N︎︎G︎︎E︎︎ S︎︎E︎︎E︎︎M︎︎ T︎︎O︎︎ G︎︎E︎︎T︎︎ A︎︎L︎︎O︎︎N︎︎G︎︎ W︎︎E︎︎L︎︎L︎︎. T︎︎H︎︎E︎︎Y︎︎ C︎︎O︎︎N︎︎S︎︎T︎︎A︎︎N︎︎T︎︎L︎︎Y︎︎ C︎︎O︎︎M︎︎M︎︎U︎︎N︎︎I︎︎C︎︎A︎︎T︎︎E︎︎,︎︎ A︎︎N︎︎D︎︎ T︎︎H︎︎E︎︎Y︎︎ R︎︎A︎︎R︎︎E︎︎L︎︎Y︎︎ S︎︎H︎︎O︎︎W︎︎ S︎︎I︎︎G︎︎N︎︎S︎︎ O︎︎F︎︎ A︎︎G︎︎G︎︎R︎︎E︎︎S︎︎S︎︎I︎︎O︎︎N︎︎ A︎︎T︎︎ T︎︎H︎︎E︎︎ S︎︎A︎︎M︎︎E︎︎ T︎︎I︎︎M︎︎E︎︎. T︎︎H︎︎E︎︎Y︎︎ T︎︎E︎︎N︎︎D︎︎ T︎︎O︎︎ B︎︎E︎︎C︎︎O︎︎M︎︎E︎︎ S︎︎I︎︎L︎︎E︎︎N︎︎T︎︎ W︎︎H︎︎E︎︎N︎︎E︎︎V︎︎E︎︎R︎︎ I︎︎ E︎︎N︎︎T︎︎E︎︎R︎︎ T︎︎H︎︎E︎︎ R︎︎O︎︎O︎︎M︎︎,︎︎ B︎︎U︎︎T︎︎ I︎︎F︎︎ T︎︎H︎︎E︎︎Y︎︎ D︎︎E︎︎C︎︎I︎︎D︎︎E︎︎ T︎︎H︎︎A︎︎T︎︎ T︎︎H︎︎E︎︎R︎︎E︎︎ I︎︎S︎︎ N︎︎O︎︎T︎︎H︎︎I︎︎N︎︎G︎︎ W︎︎O︎︎R︎︎T︎︎H︎︎ N︎︎O︎︎T︎︎I︎︎N︎︎G︎︎,︎︎ T︎︎H︎︎E︎︎Y︎︎ C︎︎O︎︎N︎︎T︎︎I︎︎N︎︎U︎︎E︎︎ W︎︎I︎︎T︎︎H︎︎ W︎︎H︎︎A︎︎T︎︎ T︎︎H︎︎E︎︎Y︎︎ W︎︎E︎︎R︎︎E︎︎ D︎︎O︎︎I︎︎N︎︎G︎︎. I︎︎'︎︎M︎︎ I︎︎N︎︎T︎︎E︎︎R︎︎E︎︎S︎︎T︎︎E︎︎D︎︎ I︎︎N︎︎ S︎︎E︎︎E︎︎I︎︎N︎︎G︎︎ H︎︎O︎︎W︎︎ T︎︎H︎︎E︎︎Y︎︎ M︎︎I︎︎G︎︎H︎︎T︎︎ R︎︎E︎︎S︎︎P︎︎O︎︎N︎︎D︎︎ I︎︎F︎︎ A︎︎ N︎︎E︎︎W︎︎ V︎︎A︎︎R︎︎I︎︎A︎︎B︎︎L︎︎E︎︎ I︎︎S︎︎ I︎︎N︎︎T︎︎R︎︎O︎︎D︎︎U︎︎C︎︎E︎︎D︎︎. I︎︎ S︎︎H︎︎A︎︎L︎︎L︎︎ W︎︎A︎︎I︎︎T︎︎ O︎︎N︎︎ T︎︎H︎︎A︎︎T︎︎ F︎︎O︎︎R︎︎ N︎︎O︎︎W︎︎,︎︎ B︎︎U︎︎T︎︎ W︎︎H︎︎E︎︎N︎︎ I︎︎ B︎︎E︎︎L︎︎I︎︎E︎︎V︎︎E︎︎ T︎︎H︎︎E︎︎ T︎︎I︎︎M︎︎E︎︎ I︎︎S︎︎ R︎︎I︎︎G︎︎H︎︎T︎︎,︎︎ I︎︎ S︎︎H︎︎A︎︎L︎︎L︎︎ C︎︎O︎︎N︎︎D︎︎U︎︎C︎︎T︎︎ F︎︎U︎︎R︎︎T︎︎H︎︎E︎︎R︎︎ E︎︎X︎︎P︎︎E︎︎R︎︎I︎︎M︎︎E︎︎N︎︎T︎︎S︎︎ O︎︎N︎︎ T︎︎H︎︎E︎︎I︎︎R︎︎ B︎︎E︎︎H︎︎A︎︎V︎︎I︎︎O︎︎R︎︎. I︎N︎ T︎H︎E︎ M︎E︎A︎N︎T︎I︎M︎E︎,︎ I︎ H︎A︎V︎E︎ S︎T︎A︎R︎T︎E︎D︎ O︎N︎ A︎N︎O︎T︎H︎E︎R︎,︎ L︎E︎N︎G︎T︎H︎Y︎ P︎R︎O︎J︎E︎C︎T︎. H︎O︎P︎E︎F︎U︎L︎L︎Y︎ I︎T︎ S︎H︎A︎L︎L︎ P︎R︎O︎V︎I︎D︎E︎ P︎O︎S︎I︎T︎I︎V︎E︎ R︎E︎S︎U︎L︎T︎S︎. I︎ H︎A︎V︎E︎ I︎N︎V︎E︎S︎T︎E︎D︎ Q︎U︎I︎T︎E︎ A︎ B︎I︎T︎ I︎N︎T︎O︎ I︎T︎... H︎O︎W︎E︎V︎E︎R︎,︎ S︎C︎I︎E︎N︎C︎E︎ I︎S︎ A︎N︎ U︎N︎P︎R︎E︎D︎I︎C︎T︎A︎B︎L︎E︎ A︎R︎T︎,︎ A︎N︎D︎ I︎ M︎U︎S︎T︎ B︎E︎ R︎E︎A︎D︎Y︎ F︎O︎R︎ W︎H︎A︎T︎E︎V︎E︎R︎ T︎H︎E︎ R︎E︎S︎U︎L︎T︎S︎ M︎A︎Y︎ B︎E︎.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new soul appears, and Gaster tries out some new experiments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAVEN'T UPDATED THIS THING SINCE 2016, I AM SO SORRY.

“Werewolves or vampires?”

“Ya already asked me that.”

“Oh.  How many times?”

“Twelve, I reckon.”

I sighed.  Jeremiah had so many cool things to say at first, but with nothing but talking as our pastime, all conversation topics quickly grew dull.  We had no more stories to tell, save for the ones that we had forgotten about.  I felt a slight regret every time I thought back to challenging the King.  Did Jeremiah regret his past decisions?  Probably.  I occasionally wondered if I’d ever get anyone else to talk to.  Gaster had installed give five other soul container thingys soon after he had first put me here, probably to prepare ahead of time for any newcomers.

“Would ya rather fight the Chupacabra or 100 coyotes?”

That was a new one.  Jeremiah told me what a chupacabra was a while ago.  I thought it over for a bit before settling on my response.

“The Chupacabra.  They shouldn't be very hard to deal with.”

He snorted.  “You ain't thinkin’ straight.  You can see a coyote, but the Chupacabra ain't ever been spotted for sure.  A few dead goats are all that's ever left behind.”

“But a hundred coyotes?  Nobody could ever handle that many!”

We discussed it for about an hour until we finally agreed to disagree.  Gaster was watching from a distance, quietly emptying out the rest of a pudding cup.  He seemed to really like those.  A skeleton staring at you intensely while eating pudding is about as unnerving as it sounds.  I suddenly thought of a new question to ask Jeremiah.

“Hey, what's your favorite desse-”

A loud alarm went off to my right.  I quietly turned around to look at this new thing, and so did Jeremiah.  What else could we do?  Any little new thing is interesting when you're bored.  We waited for a good five minutes for something to happen before Gaster turned the alarm off.

 

* * *

 

I couldn't believe that he thought the Chupacabra would be easier to take on than a hundred coyotes!  I was still grumbling about it (mentally, of course) when a siren started to blare.  I jumped a bit at first, then quickly tried to draw my gun.  I then remembered that I didn't have it anymore, so I watched with tension alongside Buddy.

Or at least, I watched until I heard the sounds of the empty soul chamber to my left being opened.  I whipped around just in time to see Gaster slip a green heart into the container and seal it back up.  He didn’t seem to be in any sort of hurry.

“Buddy!  Look over here!”  I said, trying to get his attention.  But he was too focused on the darned doorway to his right.  After a few minutes, Gaster pressed a button on what Buddy called a “remote”, and the alarm went quiet.  Buddy seemed disappointed after nothing seemed to happen, then turned towards me again.

“Darn, false alarm.  Wouldn’t it have been cool if something really did happen though?  Like, wouldn’t it have been awesome if an alien or an experiment gone wrong bust out of there or something?  Then Gaster would need help, and we would break out of here using cool superpowers or something and save him!  Then we’d be heros and they’d let us go!”

“Something  _ did _ happen, you just weren’t looking!”  I informed him, moving aside so he could see into the container to my left.  His eyes seemed to light up.

“Whoah!  When’d they arrive?”

“Just a few minutes ago.  I tried to tell you, but you were too invested in that there door.”

I looked at the newcomer once more.  Instead of appearing standing up like Buddy did, they were lying in a heap on the bottom of the container.  I couldn’t yet tell if it was a boy or a girl, seeing as how it’s appearance only consisted of a bunch of green light in the vague shape of a human form, but it definitely didn’t look right when it was just...there.  They looked dead.

“...Jeremiah, you’re closer.  Are they okay?”  Buddy asked, clearly concerned for the green entity.

I tried to knock on the side of my container.  It didn’t make any sort of sound, but it just felt right to do so.  “Hey, are you okay?”

The green form shifted in place a bit.  “...whaddaya want?”  a sleepy female voice asked.

I took a quick glance over my shoulder to address Buddy.  “They’re okay.  Tired, but okay.”

This made Buddy pause.  “But I thought you said we couldn’t sleep?  I even tried it myself, and no luck!”

The green form sat up, making it look much more normal.  The details had started to appear, showing the basics of where her hair was and where her torso started.  Her eyes and mouth were faintly outlined on her face, making her confusion visible.

“What do you mean?  Who are you?”

“The name’s Buddy!  Nice to meet ya!”  I tried to scoot farther away from the center of my thin tube to let her see who was speaking.  She seemed to squint a little to make anything out from behind four layers of glass.  She stood up, seemed to straighten out what seemed like some sort of dress, and waved to him.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you!  I’m Samantha.”  She said, voice friendly and welcoming.

I tipped my hat at her.  “Jeremiah.  So, how’d you die?”  I was genuinely curious.

Samantha froze.  “...what do you mean?”

“You were killed.  We all were.” I gestured to Buddy and I.  “How did  _ you _ die?”

“I’m not dead.”

“I’m pretty sure you are.”

“I’m.  Not.  Dead.”

“Why are you in a container then?”

Samantha’s eyes widened.  She shook her head slowly.  “No...nonononono!  You’re wrong!  I’m not dead, I’m fine!  Perfectly fine!”  She sure didn’t look like she believed it.

“I saw your soul being put inside that container.  I’m sorry ma’am, but you’re definitely dead.”

Samantha screamed. It was a sound of terror, disbelief, and denial meshed together.  She threw herself aggressively against the side of her container, seemingly trying to break her way to freedom.  When it didn’t do anything, she tried again.  And again.  And again.  All the while, green tears streamed down her face like terrified rivers.

“NO!  I’M NOT DEAD!  I DON’T WANNA DIE!  NOT LIKE THIS!  I WANT MY MOM!  I WANT MY DAD!  I WANT TO SEE MY CATS AGAIN!  WHAT ABOUT MY FRIENDS!?  I CAN’T BE DEAD, I CAN’T BE!”

Every sentence was punctuated with her sobs.  Buddy looked at the floor, unable to watch the poor girl’s futile efforts.  I couldn’t look away.  I felt my sense of justice burn inside me like a flame.  Why did she have to die?  Why did  _ anyone _ have to die?  It was cruel!  Unfair!  Nobody deserved to be torn away from their family like that!  I didn’t even think of Ma until a few minutes worth of rage had past.  I would’ve given existing in this container for a century if it meant that she and Buddy were able to go free and see their family again.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Samantha collapsed to her knees, cupped her face in her hands, and broke down.  When I looked at Buddy again, his eyes were flaked with faint tears and his fists were clenched in frustration.  If I knew only one thing about him by now, it was that he hated feeling helpless even more than I did.  But that was what we were.  Nothing more than bystanders witnessing something we couldn’t control.  So, I did the best thing I could at that moment, and crouched down beside her.  It wouldn’t help much, but at least I could possibly provide some comfort.

 

* * *

 

I had been sitting in silence for a few hours at the least.  I still couldn’t fully wrap my mind around the thought of being dead.  The others were quiet as I cried, offering me the illusion of privacy.  

“I wonder if anyone found my quiche.” I wondered out loud.

“Yer what?”  Jeremiah asked.

“Oh.  I had cooked a quiche with someone.  I had it with me when...when I died.”

Jeremiah nodded.  I didn’t feel like I could trust him with the name of the monster that had taught me how to cook the dish.  I didn’t know why I felt that way, I just did.  Immediately after I finished speaking, Buddy peppered me with a bunch of questions.  I tried to answer as many as I could, but he spoke a bit quickly and his words tended to blend together.  After the questions were all answered, another wave of silence overtook the room.  It was times like these that I wished I had a Tamagotchi.  It would be nice to take care of something.

I was tempted to ask about why he and Jeremiah faintly glowed orange and yellow respectively, but as I seemed to look more and more like my old self, I noticed that I took on a green tint of my own.  Even my old stained apron had the same green aura.  In the end, I decided to let the matter drop.

Some small talk started up somewhere down the line.  Something about if I’d rather fight the Chupacabra or a hundred coyotes (I’d rather not fight either) and what my favorite dessert was (ice cream and watermelon, neither can be beat).  Eventually, we somehow got to the point where I was trying to explain a Furby to them, to no avail.

Suddenly, a large set of double doors, which was apparently the main entrance to the room, swung open with a startlingly loud screech.  Buddy and Jeremiah both went silent as a skeleton monster stepped into the room.  They had told me that his name was Gaster, which seemed to fit his ghastly appearance quite well.  I couldn’t help but cower when I saw his stern glare and his multiple floating hands (four, to be exact).  Each hand was doing something sciency.

He walked up to Jeremiah, who looked at him in return.  He didn’t seem to know what Gaster wanted with him.  Suddenly, Gaster’s multiple hands quickly removed his container from where it was plugged into a large device behind us.  Without saying a word, he picked up the very startled Jeremiah and walked out of the room with him.  Buddy was staring after them, slack jawed.  Apparently, this had never happened before.  Without saying a word, we both stood there, trying our best to comprehend what just happened.

 

* * *

 

I was set down in a room full of tools.  I didn’t recognize most of them, but I could definitely identify a syringe and a scalpel.  I remembered seeing them when the town doctor was trying to save my dad.  I pushed the painful memory aside as Gaster shuffled with some papers on a countertop.  When he was done, he held a clipboard in two of his floating hands, and started to open my container with the other two.  His attached hands remained empty.

When my container was open, my soul was gently lifted out.  I was held helplessly in his hands for a few seconds, then was set down on a table.  I assumed a sitting position as my soul naturally levitated above the table.  I was held in place by the monster’s magic, so I quietly watched as he used one of his attached hands to pick up a tool.  The scalpel.  He walked up to me.

Then, with a single swing, he used the scalpel to slash my soul.

I went numb with shock as a small piece of the yellow heart that had floated undisturbed for so long fell into his hand.  Something felt wrong.  Slowly, I raised my hand to my left shoulder.  Or at least, where it used to be.  All I felt was air.  I brought my gaze up to it to assess the damage.  A large part of it had been gouged out, and a thick yellow fluid which I could only compare to blood was starting to bubble out of it.

Then the pain kicked in.  Red hot pain.  Blinding pain.  I screamed.  I couldn’t have held it back if I had tried.  I started to lose focus.  Gaster seemed to cast some sort of spell to stop the bleeding.  I could only faintly register being put back into my container and carried back out to the others.  Their terrified screaming felt so far away.  I couldn’t hold a thought for more than a millisecond.  I couldn’t do anything at all.  All I could truly focus on was the terrible, terrible pain.  I was set back in place and reattached to the device.

That was the last thought I could process before I blacked out.

 

* * *

 

I HAVE DECIDED TO PROGRESS THE TESTS ON THE HUMAN SUBJECTS EARLY.  SCIENCE CAN NOT WAIT FOR PETTY INTRODUCTIONS.  IT SEEMS THAT DESPITE NOT EVEN BEING TOGETHER FOR A DAY, SUBJECT GREEN ALREADY SHOWS SIGNS OF ATTACHMENT TO SUBJECT YELLOW.  HOWEVER, THAT IS A MERE BONUS OBSERVATION.  THE MAIN TESTING STILL NEEDS TO BE CONDUCTED.  SUBJECT YELLOW SEEMS TO HAVE GONE INTO SHOCK.  I CAN’T SAY THAT I HAVE COMPLETE CONFIDENCE THAT HE WILL SURVIVE.  IT IS UNLIKELY HOWEVER THAT THIS WILL MARK HIS END.  I HAVE MASTERED BASIC GREEN MAGIC AND AM PLANNING TO TEND TO HIM ON A DAILY BASIS.

  
PROJECT DUO HAS BEEN PROGRESSING FAR BETTER THAN I COULD EVER HAD EXPECTED.  I AM VERY PLEASED WITH THE RESULTS.  WHILE ONE SUBJECT HAD AWOKEN EARLY, AND HAD SUFFERED MAJOR DEFECTS DUE TO IT, THE CORE GOAL OF THE EXPERIMENT HAS BEEN A SUCCESS.  FURTHER TESTING IS REQUIRED ON THE SUBJECT THAT AWOKE ON TIME.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop whoop! The second chapter marks where the fun begins!
> 
> Like I said before the chapter, I'm super sorry for the long wait. I have no good reason to justify it. I suddenly felt very inspired to update this today, so I took that inspiration and started typing this thing up before I lost the spark.
> 
> While I wrote the Gaster notes at the end of the chapter, a thunderstorm started and I was listening to an anti-nightcore version of Rainbow Factory. The power actually went out for a second during it. It was perfect ambiance, I tell you.
> 
> I also got Undertale Amino since the last update! So now if you don't feel like asking questions in the comments, you can ask me right here --> http://aminoapps.com/p/3b4erq


	3. Intermission

Gaster flipped through his notes over the human test subjects.  He had recorded plenty of data already, and many tests still needed conducting.  It was difficult for him to restrain himself from bragging to the King.  He knew that he'd never approve of the potentially lethal experiments, so he swallowed his pride and kept working in secret.  There  _ was _ an experiment, however, that the King did know about.  He didn't truly approve, but he never stopped the royal scientist.

Gaster suddenly stopped flipping through the notes.  Turning back a few pages, he found something that didn't belong.  A crayon drawing, colored by the hands of a young child.  Three skeleton monsters were centered on the page (although, the baby more closely resembled an orange oval than an infant).  Despite the rough recreation, Gaster was still easily able to recognize himself and the child that made the drawing for him.  Gaster hated having to refer to them as an experiment in his notes.  They were his children, not some petty numbers on a chart.  There was some writing along the top of the page.  This too was written in crayon.

“I love my daddy!” -Sans

Gaster chuckled at his son's childish signature at the bottom of the drawing.  He carefully took the drawing out of the folder in which the notes were in, walked over to what could be considered a “fridge” of D.N.A. samples, and used a recently purchased alphabet magnet to hang it up.  He felt himself smile when he heard his son's pleased giggles from somewhere in the room.  He had baby proofed the room long ago, so he wasn't afraid of him getting into trouble.

As Gaster walked over to his seat once more, he could clearly see from a distance that another crayon drawing was placed on his desk.  He smiled wider.  He heard the sound of the door connecting the lab to the living area of the building opening and slamming shut.  His son had gone back up stairs. Happily sighing, Gaster sat back down, and admired his son's latest work of art.

**Author's Note:**

> See? I told you I'd post something before the end of December! I don't know why, but I find this so much easier to write than anything else! I'll definitely try to post a new chapter soon.
> 
> The capitalized text at the bottom were supposed to be Wingdings, but when I tried to view them, they wouldn't show up on this site. So just copy and paste the text into here and pretend it looks cool.
> 
> https://lingojam.com/WingDing 
> 
> Have fun!


End file.
